Starstruck

by Rachel Schurig

  I shook my head, forcing the thoughts of Jim away. Jackson had made sure he couldn’t hurt us. That was all that mattered. And my family agreed wholeheartedly. My mom had barely batted an eye when I told her we’d be living together. She had replaced her warnings about spending too much time with him to hints about trying to get him to put a ring on my finger. I suppose she wouldn’t be my mother if she wasn’t nagging me about something.

  Kade appeared over Lizzie’s shoulder, looking harried. “We should get going before Kade has a heart attack,” Jackson muttered, taking my elbow and gesturing Lizzie and Thomas toward the glass doors leading out to the tarmac.

  “Where’s Beth?” Lizzie asked.

  “Leslie brought her out to the jet already,” I explained. “She fell asleep on the way over, and we didn’t want to wake her.”

  “You should see her, Lizzie,” Jackson said, his voice sounding very much like mine when I talked about Beth. “She can say three words now. That’s very advanced for her age.”

  “I miss her,” Lizzie sighed.

  “Don’t worry—I’m sure she’ll wake up at the most inconvenient moment,” I said. “It’s her special gift.”

  “Something else to get used to, mate,” Jackson told Thomas.

  “I can hardly wait,” Thomas said, squeezing Lizzie’s shoulder.

  Kade was standing at the steps to the jet, eyeing his watch. “He’s not at all subtle, is he?” Lizzie asked.

  I laughed. “It’s not his style. Let’s get on board before steam starts to shoot out of his ears.”

  The flight to L.A. passed in a blur of curling irons and makeup brushes. I had no idea how Reagan, Cassidy, and Fi were able to keep their hands so steady on board a moving jet, but luckily, we were blessed with an absence of turbulence. It took them more than half of the five-hour flight to get both Lizzie and me ready. My cousin looked pretty bored as they straightened and smoothed her thick hair. As for me, all of the fuss was still new enough to be exciting. I did join her in complaining that the guys, the actual stars of the night’s event, got to spend the flight playing video games and drinking beer. All they had to do was put on their tuxes once we got to L.A.

  I didn’t mention that Jackson had both a facial and a mani-pedi the day before.

  Because we had to go straight from the airport to the premiere, we got dressed there on the plane. Just before we started our descent, we took turns in the back bedroom getting into our finery. Lizzie looked fantastic in a heavily beaded silver A-line. The cut and material of the dress hid any hint of her baby bump, a fact that Thomas reassured her of several times.

  When it was my turn, I entered the bedroom to find my turquoise ball gown hanging from the closet door. It was a bold dress, the color bright enough to be attention grabbing, and I was more than a little nervous to make my first official appearance as Jackson’s girlfriend wearing it. He had picked it himself, two weeks ago when we went shopping together for the event.

  I stepped into the dress, pulling it up over my bustier. There was no way I was going to get the zipper up myself. Before I could go to the door to call Lizzie, there was a knock, and then Jackson’s face appeared.

  “Need help?”

  “I could use a zip.”

  I turned my back to him so he could pull the zipper up, pausing several times to kiss my bare shoulders. “You look beautiful, Sofie.”

  He was already dressed in his tux, which looked even better with his dark hair than it normally did. “I could say the same,” I said, slipping my arms around his waist.

  “You feeling all right about this?”

  “A little nervous.”

  He nudged my chin so I would look up at him. “You have nothing to be nervous about. You’re beautiful. And I’ll be with you the entire time.”

  “What about you? You’re the one they’ll be taking photos of and interviewing—are you nervous?”

  He shook his head. “Not really. It’s pretty much second nature these days.” He paused, looking over his shoulder at the closed door before turning back to me, his eyes flashing. “Want to know a secret?”

  “Of course.”

  He bent his head a little so his mouth was close to my ear. “It’s actually tremendously fun. Walking up and down the red carpet, people calling your name, the camera flashes going. It’s fantastic.”

  I laughed. “I always thought it looked fun.”

  He nodded, eyes still twinkling. “You’ll see. The first of many.”

  “Yeah? You think I might make it to another one of these?”

  He kissed me, his lips soft against mine. A comfortable kind of kiss, one you give freely when you know there are limitless amounts of kisses to come. “If I have my way, Sofie, you’ll be at every premiere I ever have.”

  I felt a warm wave of pleasure, the same one I got whenever he talked about our future as if it was a given.

  The email alarm of his phone sounded, and he released me with one arm to pull it from his pocket. He glanced at the screen and smiled. “Excellent.”

  “What?”

  “That was my friend Giles. I’ve told you about him?”

  “The one with the vineyard in Napa?”

  “That’s the one. He’s available on Thursday, and I happen to have an entire free day, so I thought we’d take the jet up and do a tour. Some tastings. Would you like that?”

  A day of wine tasting with Jackson? “That sounds like heaven.”

  He chuckled, slipping the phone back into his pocket and holding out his arm for me to take. “That’s not all I have planned this week, you know.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Really.”

  “I booked us surfing lessons since you said you wanted to try it. And we have reservations at some of the best restaurants in L.A. And the American Ballet Theater is in town this week—”

  I stopped at the bedroom door. “Jackson Coles. All of this sounds very grand gesture-esque to me.”

  He looked down at me, his trademark grin bright enough to make my breath catch. “Absolutely, love. I happen to like grand gestures. You’ll just have to deal with it.”

  I followed him out into the main cabin, thinking of all the places he had led me so far. Los Angeles, New York. A new job. A new life. One in which I had the courage to go after the things I wanted. A life in which I had support when times were hard, support even when I made the wrong choices. A life full of adventures and challenges and dreams and love.

  “Grand gestures sound just fine,” I whispered, not sure if I was talking to myself or to him. “Grand gestures sound pretty damn fantastic.”

  We buckled in as the captain began his descent, Beth waking up as soon as we sat down. “I’ll take her,” Jackson told Leslie, reaching for her across the aisle and pulling her close to his chest to calm her whimpering.

  “She’ll smudge your fancy jacket,” I protested, but he waved me off.

  “She’s fine.”

  And she was. Cuddled against Jackson’s chest, the most important man in her life, she immediately calmed, one thumb in her mouth, her other hand wrapped tightly around his fingers.

  This, I realized, was the grandest gesture of all. Not the fancy jet or the couture gown. Not the townhouse in Manhattan or the beach house in Malibu. Not the trips or the gourmet food or the expensive wine or the red carpet. This moment, right here, was the ultimate grand gesture. The one that said my daughter and I were the center of his life. The one that said he would be there for us, take care of us. Love us, always.

  I reached over and took his hand as the plane landed, ready for whatever came next.

  The End

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Rachel Schurig is the best-selling author of the Three Girls series, available now in paperback and ebook. Rachel lives in the metro Detroit area with her dog, Lucy. She loves to watch reality TV, and she reads as many books as she can get her hands on. In her spare time, Rachel decorates cakes.

  To find out more about her books, visit Rachel at rachelschurig.com

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